The work “kvetch” is a Yiddish term
that means to complain persistently and whiningly. Leonard Ross, the child
prodigy who won the $64,000 Challenge
game show at the age of 11, is quoted as saying that a nagging complainer is
one who goes on a “rambling kvetch against the system.”

I was
thinking about the expression last weekend when thousands of people in the
United States joined nationwide rallies to demand federal action in support of
civil rights, one week after a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the
shooting death of the unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin. I have already blogged
about the fairness of the Zimmerman verdict and issues related to allowing him
to carry a gun as a neighborhood watch person.

The National Action Network, led by
American civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, organized last Saturday's
vigils in honor of Trayvon Martin, outside government buildings in more than
100 cities around the country. The not guilty verdict in the Zimmerman trial angered
many Americans who believe Martin's killing was racially motivated. Race was
not discussed in court during the trial.

Saturday's main rally was in New
York City, where hundreds of people gathered to see Martin's mother Sybrina
Fulton, Sharpton and pop superstar couple Beyonce and Jay-Z. Addressing the
crowd, Fulton said "today it was my son, tomorrow it might be yours."
She also vowed to fight for change in the country to ensure that her son's
death is not in vain, saying "I am going to work for your children as
well."

Sharpton is pressing the U.S.
Department of Justice to launch a civil right prosecution of Zimmerman on
suspicion of targeting Martin because of the teenager's race. Some legal
experts say it would be difficult for federal prosecutors to prove the
allegation.

Our hearts and sympathies go out to
Travyon Martin’s family. No parent should have to endure what they have the
past year-and-a-half and in the aftermath of the jury verdict. However, I have
to ask whether the verdict has manifested itself in a national exercise on
kvetching. In other words, do we protest a decision because it didn’t go our
way or because there is a genuine issue of fairness in a jury’s deliberation
process and its decision that needs to be aired out to cleanse our national
psyche? Have we become a nation of kvetchers? We don’t get our way so we
demonstrate to bring pressure on those (i.e., the system) that legitimately decided
a legal case against us.

To answer these questions in the
Zimmerman case we need to examine the motive for the protests. To the extent
they are based on wanting to protest the incompetent prosecution of the case and prevent
neighborhood watch people from carrying guns, then count me as one of the
kvetchers. However, to the extent they are motivated by a petulant feeling, I
believe they reflect classic kvetching.

There is no doubt that the reaction
to the Zimmerman verdict is understandable because a young black man is dead.
He was needlessly killed. Zimmerman never should have been allowed to carry a
gun---period.

However, we have to balance that
feeling with the fact that the jury rendered what it perceived to be a fair verdict.
Most experts agreed with the verdict. If we are looking for someone or
something to blame, let’s examine the incompetent behavior of Florida State
Attorney Angela Corey who over-charged with the second degree murder count. Manslaughter
with a gun in Florida carries a maximum of 30 years in prison. That was the
appropriate charge and, I believe, if Corey and the prosecutors focused on that
charge, Zimmerman would have been found guilty.

So why are there no protests about
the inept prosecuting attorneys in the Zimmerman case? Why isn’t anyone asking
for the removal of Corey who, after the verdict, said Zimmerman was a “murderer?”
Where are the Sharptons and Jacksons in this situation? Why aren’t they
protesting the real cause of the not guilty verdict? Why aren’t they exercising
their God-given right to kvetch about the way the prosecution handled the case?

Comments

Our Kvetching Society

Is Complaining about the Zimmerman verdict Justified?

The work “kvetch” is a Yiddish term
that means to complain persistently and whiningly. Leonard Ross, the child
prodigy who won the $64,000 Challenge
game show at the age of 11, is quoted as saying that a nagging complainer is
one who goes on a “rambling kvetch against the system.”

I was
thinking about the expression last weekend when thousands of people in the
United States joined nationwide rallies to demand federal action in support of
civil rights, one week after a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the
shooting death of the unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin. I have already blogged
about the fairness of the Zimmerman verdict and issues related to allowing him
to carry a gun as a neighborhood watch person.

The National Action Network, led by
American civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, organized last Saturday's
vigils in honor of Trayvon Martin, outside government buildings in more than
100 cities around the country. The not guilty verdict in the Zimmerman trial angered
many Americans who believe Martin's killing was racially motivated. Race was
not discussed in court during the trial.

Saturday's main rally was in New
York City, where hundreds of people gathered to see Martin's mother Sybrina
Fulton, Sharpton and pop superstar couple Beyonce and Jay-Z. Addressing the
crowd, Fulton said "today it was my son, tomorrow it might be yours."
She also vowed to fight for change in the country to ensure that her son's
death is not in vain, saying "I am going to work for your children as
well."

Sharpton is pressing the U.S.
Department of Justice to launch a civil right prosecution of Zimmerman on
suspicion of targeting Martin because of the teenager's race. Some legal
experts say it would be difficult for federal prosecutors to prove the
allegation.

Our hearts and sympathies go out to
Travyon Martin’s family. No parent should have to endure what they have the
past year-and-a-half and in the aftermath of the jury verdict. However, I have
to ask whether the verdict has manifested itself in a national exercise on
kvetching. In other words, do we protest a decision because it didn’t go our
way or because there is a genuine issue of fairness in a jury’s deliberation
process and its decision that needs to be aired out to cleanse our national
psyche? Have we become a nation of kvetchers? We don’t get our way so we
demonstrate to bring pressure on those (i.e., the system) that legitimately decided
a legal case against us.

To answer these questions in the
Zimmerman case we need to examine the motive for the protests. To the extent
they are based on wanting to protest the incompetent prosecution of the case and prevent
neighborhood watch people from carrying guns, then count me as one of the
kvetchers. However, to the extent they are motivated by a petulant feeling, I
believe they reflect classic kvetching.

There is no doubt that the reaction
to the Zimmerman verdict is understandable because a young black man is dead.
He was needlessly killed. Zimmerman never should have been allowed to carry a
gun---period.

However, we have to balance that
feeling with the fact that the jury rendered what it perceived to be a fair verdict.
Most experts agreed with the verdict. If we are looking for someone or
something to blame, let’s examine the incompetent behavior of Florida State
Attorney Angela Corey who over-charged with the second degree murder count. Manslaughter
with a gun in Florida carries a maximum of 30 years in prison. That was the
appropriate charge and, I believe, if Corey and the prosecutors focused on that
charge, Zimmerman would have been found guilty.

So why are there no protests about
the inept prosecuting attorneys in the Zimmerman case? Why isn’t anyone asking
for the removal of Corey who, after the verdict, said Zimmerman was a “murderer?”
Where are the Sharptons and Jacksons in this situation? Why aren’t they
protesting the real cause of the not guilty verdict? Why aren’t they exercising
their God-given right to kvetch about the way the prosecution handled the case?